Slice Open the Grapefruit

Spring Training truly starts today, despite the fact that we’ve been in Vero for more than two weeks. Before I get to the lineup, which I’m sure you’re all anxious to see, I’ve got some great news about the Inside the Dodgers blog.

As I had hoped when this whole thing started more than two years ago, you’ll begin to get more contributors to the blog, including Team Travel Manager Scott Akasaki and General Manager Ned Colletti.

Scott is responsible for every plane, train, automobile, and hotel that we will travel this year, which covers more than 54,000 miles. He will be giving everyone a little insight into how we go about doing that and some of the funny things that happen along the way.

Even better, Ned came to me a few weeks ago and said that he wants to find a way to interact with the fans more often and suggested that this be the area to do so. Therefore, every couple of weeks, he’s going to answer your questions here.

It won’t be live, but if you have a question for Ned, please direct it to him in the comments. I’ll compile all the questions and he’ll pick about 10 to answer every other week or so.

So with that, happy "Opening Day"…here’s the lineup for the first part of today’s game:

I’ve got a question for Ned. Don’t you think that the team would be better with Either as the everyday left fielder? After all he’s a more complete player with some power, a better OBP, and a good throwing arm.

This is going to be a running theme all season until Torre stops doing it……..the fans will not be happy while Pierre and Nomar are in the lineup. The problem gets even worse when the “out machine” gets to hit leadoff and Nomar gets to hit BEFORE Kemp in the lineup.

You guys are amazing…1st spring game and the sky is falling…Can we just enjoy the moment?

I will be in Vero this Saturday with my boy Sandy and Sal Larocca. I do not know if anyone on here knows about Sal, but he has one of, if not the largest Dodgers memorabilia collections. He knows Dodgers baseball like no other.

I cannot wait to see ST up close and personal for the first time. I have been to 4 fantasy camps, never ST.

I will make sure I get pictures of Pierre and the boys and post them next week.

Well Scott I am not sure if it is possible to get a strong throw from Pierre, but I will try. As far as the camp, you are never too old, there are people 30 to 92 years old. My father has gone 3 times with me, he is 74. It is expensive but it is the most enjoyable time. I got to hang out with Branca, Snider, Erskine and the late and great Labine. I got to meet my childhood hero Garvey, Wills, Monday, Yeager, etc….

It is a chance to be a kid again playing a game that I did not play for 20 years. My shoulder is still sore from the 200 pitches I threw in the Nov camp.

The best part is the friendships that you build with Dodgers fans across the country. I have been fortunate to build a friendship with Juan Bustabad the Midland Loons manager. He is a great manager and an even better person. As the mastercard commercial says the week is priceless.

You will never regret it. Scott how old are you? I assume you are from the LA area and the camp will be in Glendale starting in 2010 I believe. Do it man you deserve it.

Man the Groundhogs are out in force today!!! lol Well thank you goes out to Josh first of all for allowing us to come on here and hear from the inside. I think everything you have done for this blog is great and it does not go unappreciated, well atleast not by everyone! I am super excited to hear from Ned and I hope he doesnt get pushed away by the groundhogs who run rapid around here.

On todays lineup and game, I am super excited to start the season of baseball, us fans look forward to this day all fall and winter long and the day is finally upon us!

It is pure ignorance for those who have called our new manager Torre, “Grady Little” and no offense to Grady but Torre is light years ahead of him… you guys trip on the first lineup he puts out but what you ignore is this is a new team for him and he needs to figure out the kinks and for you to think that this is going to stick throughout the ST is another ignorance! The lineup is going to change quite a bit i believe and its sad that some cant even go through a day without player manager or Gm, its a game and just enjoy it! If you love the game you would see the beauty in a opening day and not what you think about the lineup or the manager or the players or the GM!

Thanks again for everything Josh and I look forward to hearing from both Scott and Ned!

dodgerboy i am very jealous, i am not going to get a chance to experience the beauty of ST at Vero unless they end up there again next year. Have fun and enjoy man!

No fair Scott, I’ve already been promised one by joanrich of JP bouncing his warm-up throw to Jones!

I can’t see this blog being able to come up with 10 questions a week for Ned except maybe:

1. Why is JP playing ahead of Ethier?

2. Wouldn’t Either make a better LFer than JP?

3. How can you play JP over Either?

4. When is Ethier going to get his chance in left?

5. What the reason for starting JP?

6. What about Ethier?

7. Why can’t you see the Ethier’s a better OFer than JP?

8. Who told you JP should play over Ethier?

9. How much longer do we have to play JP over Ethier?

10. Why is management enamoured by the JP train?

Neds answer: Because the D’s are so strong this year we thought it necessary to begin each game with one out as a way bring us back into equilibrium with the rest of the league, and with JP at the top, we feel we’ve reached that parity.

Now before people jump down my throat, this is just a little tongue-in-cheek humor.

I’m 40 and I’m going to make an effort to get to the Glendale camp in coming years for sure, thanks. Also, I’m actually an eternal optimist when it comes to the Dodgers’ season, but I can’t stand playing contracts over talent – it’s just not right.

Question for Ned. If you had it to do over, would you sign Pierre? I am sure he will say yes to save face but I think secretly he must be having second thoughts. At least on the length of the contract.

Its the 1st game of spring training and everyone is already second guesing Joe Torre. If there is 1 manager in baseball right now that shouldnt be second guessed that is Torre. Everything he does is for a reason, even though we might not understand his reasons, He has 4 world series titles and thats good enough reason for me. Just like no one understands Phil Jackson, you know you dont second guess him, because he knows alot more than us about basketball, he has 9 titles. Same with Torre, he knows alot more than everyone here, and not like Grady, Joe has the rings to prove it.

Torre has to get a look at these guys in order to evaluate who is going to start the regular season. Might as well put Nomar and Pierre in the positions that they most likely will be used and see what they can do. I think we will see LaRoche and Ethier starting spring games at 3rd and left as well to see how they perform. If I am Torre, I would be curious to see how Pierre and Nomar play so I can make an informed decision come opening day. Hopefully, if it becomes apparent that Pierre and Nomar are not the best options, then Torre will have the Kahuna’s to play Ethier and Laroche and not cave to the big contracts and experienced veteran tags.

“Because the D’s are so strong this year we thought it necessary to begin each game with one out as a way bring us back into equilibrium with the rest of the league, and with JP at the top, we feel we’ve reached that parity”

rickcindyh: In case you’re not familiar with OBP, it measures the amount of time you get on base. Every year, Pierre has an incredibly high amount of plate appearances, but only gets on base 33% of the time. And when he does get a hit (almost always a single), any caught stealings create even MORE outs. So yes, he is an out machine.

Alot of you only focus on the bad things he does like his OBP and weak arm. But you dont realize all the good things he does. Hits, Avg, steals and he scores 100 runs a year. Are you guys gonna criticize Jones because he strikes out alot and doesnt hit for avg? You have to look at the good things he does like power and a gold glove. Everyone has their srengths and weaknesses

Did you guys here that Shawn Green retired. I was always a big fan. class act.

I promised you all, no mas Pierre takes for me. But please fellow arguers, for and against, stick to facts. Pierre has not scored 100 runs in three seasons.

I guess what bothers me is that you all seem to think that Torre dosen’t already know what kind of player he is, as if he has to see him in spring training to understand…thats a bit nieve. Everyone knows about everyone in baseball.

If people are happy with him then great. My little boy won’t have to see it. By the time he is 5 JP contract will be up. That’s they way i’ll look at it.

Scott – I agree that we would rather have Kemp make a single and move a runner, then have a running gaff, as opposed to JP and his weak outs, but I don’t think it needs to be one or the other. The kid could be amazing if he learned to pick up the 3rd base coach.

I’m not worried about who bats/plays when/where. It is spring training and time to work out the kinks. I think Torre and his coaches will be able to sort all of it out. Allthough it might take into May though with the split squads in different countries.

I’m not a Pierre basher or hater but when the question is posed as it was by rickcindy I can’t help but respond. It isn’t that every player is perfect, but which one is the best for what your team needs.

The point everyone keeps making about Pierre is we have better options than him, due to those stats. If the Dodgers had a player that was a better option than Jones then he should play.

At this time it is pretty clear that we don’t need a player with the skills that Pierre posseses. Pierre doesn’t do one thing great that makes him stand out. His main asset is speed and that is outweighed by the assets of the other options (Ethier DYoung).

Jungar please continue to post.

Torre probably knows about Pierre but not enough about Ethier.

Dodgerboy: I’m also glass half full kind of guy and I’m very positive for this season!! I might even put $50.00 down for a World Series Champion in honor of their 50th in LA. Also I’m lucky enough to go to Vero next week & never been. Please give me some tips of food places to go when you get back!

If this were the opening day lineup, I’d be worried. But we have some time.

Of the most obvious things, Kemp should be hitting higher than 8th. I didn’t see or hear Kemp getting thrown out, but his speed is a reason that he should hit higher. As you guys know, I love Loney too, but he’s not fleet of foot. Kemp should always be thinking first to third. That Loney was held up is station-to-station type ball that we should not be playing. We do need to be able to score from second on base hits.

But, this is exactly what spring training is for. Lots of reasons to think that this will get sorted out.

And, in honor of Loney’s first hit of the Spring, I just want to remind everyone:

BTW–I did not catch Josh’s exact promotion, but congratulations. And also, thanks for bringing more people from the front office in. That should be some interesting stuff. Proof that the promotion (whatever it is) is well-deserved.

As far as Torre knowing about Pierre, I think there are still some baseball people out there who are stuck in the old days where Pierre’s game “looks” attractive if you don’t zoom in more and get the real facts. Are Ned and Joe these types? We will see.

(relist from previous post)
I think this will probably (maybe) the last post I do on the JP vs Ethier debate-

about 75% of the PA’s a player batting 1st or 2nd in the batting order experiences has either nobody on base or a man on 1st. (JP had 567 of his 729 PA’s with that) If you compare JP vs Ethier last year with either the bases empty or a man on 1st, this is what you see:

JP- .306/.342/.368/.710

AE- .283/.342/.383/.725

If you add on JP’s stolen bases as if they were xtra base hits, JP would actually have the higher OPS. Ethier would have more RBI’s and SO’s over the course of the season, and JP would probably have more runs and fewer GIDP’s with his better speed/SB’s. But if you look at their #’s with RISP, Ethier’s #’s are much better. So, if you’re going to bat someone 1st or 2nd in the batting order, not such a clear choice, maybe go with JP because of his dependability, he’s going to give you 162 games a year, but if they would be batting further down the order and probably see more RISP, you go with Ethier for sure. It sort of depends on what you want to do with them.

Last point, and this has to do with the “gamer” quote you often hear about JP. Ethier’s highest OPS in situational hitting is when there is a 4 run or greater difference in the score, his lowest is when the game is tied. JP’s OPS is HIGHEST in tie game situations, lowest with the 4 run differential.

This isn’t new guys. The Ds for years and years have left runners in scoring position with less than two outs. I’ve always told people to pitch a shutout against the D’s, all you have to do is start by walking the bases loaded every inning – they’ll find a way not to score.

What they need is someone to kick them in the *** and get them to learn situational hitting and going deeper into the count. I’m hoping Easler’s the one to do it.

Fortunately, I don’t think Torre’s going to watch it go on day after day either.

finally I am able to post! I kept getting this message from mlb saying “We are currently performing maintenance operations…

Can I join the fantasy baseball some of you were talking about here? I have been playing for the last two years in a ladies league which I will join again this year. Last year we did have a couple of token boys in there :-)

DCollins: A friend of mine that moved to Vero in part because the Dodgers were there sent me a list of restaurants Don’t have it handy but I’ll share with you either here or I’ll send it via email.

A week from Saturday I will be in Vero Beach! I got my ticket for Jupiter on Saturday and the next day at Vero Beach!

Pierre,
You said you do not have access to dodgersondemand, but at least you can check out the videos on cbs/kcal. If you have not view them, you can find them at the botton of here http://www.dailynews.com/dodgers -Emma

Can you clarify the Opening Day Ticket situation? I signed up for the online raffle and it appeared that would be the only way to obtain opening day tickets. However, I have read reports saying that at this Saturday’s single game ticket sale at Dodger stadium opening day tickets would also be available. Is this true?

How do you deal with so many non-roster players ? Are they really expecting to make the team or do they hope to get noticed by another team ? If another team is interested, do you trade them or release them or something else ? I feel for a pitcher like Jason Johnson who does well, but has little chance of making the team. There seems to be a lot of talent in this pool this year.

A second question is if you could change anything about today’s typical player contract or baseball rules, what would you do ? To me it seems that managers might have to make a decision based on a contract or rules rather than what is best for team. For example, a team might choose to keep a player who is “out of options” instead of someone else.

The potential for more dissension still exists, with Kent opting to return for another season and Garciaparra coming back as a backup after a season in which he appeared to lose it. On my day in Dodgers camp, there still didn’t seem to be much socializing between the very old and very young. Kent, who has a long of history of not playing well with others and made the opposite claim of a lack of respect when he was a young player with a veteran Mets team, wore a dour face at a corner locker all day, far away from the others.

What’s worse, while the surly Kent may not talk much to his teammates, everyone around the team knows he is a main adviser to Jamie McCourt, wife of team owner Frank McCourt, an unhealthy alliance that can’t be positive for the team. The absurd idea of dumping the multitalented Kemp hit the L.A. papers early this winter, and it’s natural to conclude an idea that foolish could only have come from the same person who questioned Kemp’s “professionalism.”

Jeff Kent is a stud baseball player with Hall of Fame credentials as a 2B. Today I happened to put on that weird ESPN2 morning show and there is Derek Lowe. The questions were mostly inane, but one thing Lowe claimed was that “chemistry” is hugely important to a team. (Most of Reggie Jackson’s championship teams beg to differ.) What kind of chemistry does Jeff Kent bring to the clubhouse? Now, I don’t really know, never having set foot in one, but this is what’s on the record.

Jeff Kent called out Milton Bradley – clearly the most volatile and anger-management challenged personality on the team – in the clubhouse in front of the entire team. Baiting the known hothead would seem to incite interesting team chemistry reactions.

Jeff Kent complained to the press, in no uncertain way, about the way the young players conducted themselves. Introducing the press and the public into what should be internal team issues is quite the catalyst for team chemistry, for explosions.

Jeff Kent said a week or so ago, “You don’t win and anybody that’s not frustrated, they shouldn’t be playing the game” and “They [the fans] want to win. Give them anything shy of that and they’ll be ticked off. And the team’s players should be as well.” In other words, he thinks all players should react to losing the same way he does. Baseball can be a grind. Great teams lose 62 games a year. 75% of the NL teams DON’T make the postseason. Losing is something a player has to learn to deal with. I seriously doubt that all 750 major-leaguers (or all top-tier players) deal with losing in the same way. Jeff Kent doesn’t understand much about the human condition if he gets frustrated that not everyone is like him. In which case, he should just shut up, go about his business, read his motorcycle magazines and leave the human interaction to the coaching staff and the personable veterans.

That rant said, I was stunned that he participated as Simon in the Dodgers Idol thing, although Jeff Kent and S. Cowell (pronounce that ‘scowl’) do seem to go together.

I’m a long time Dodger fan finally going Vero Beach for spring training. I am going the game on Sunday March 16th. I know the team will be in China the 14th and 15th. Do you know who will be playing in the split squad game on 3//16.

Josh is too modest to toot his own horn. From now on, we should address him as “Mr. Vice President”. This is what Tony Jackson wrote in a Daily News article:

Josh Rawitch, a longtime member of the Dodgers public-relations staff and the team’s PR director for the past 2 1/2 years, has been promoted to vice president for public relations and broadcasting, a role he will assume immediately.

“As a lifelong Dodgers fan, it is an honor to be entrusted with this position,” Rawitch said. “I am grateful to (owners) Frank and Jamie McCourt for having confidence in me that I can handle the responsibilities of this position.”

I had a busy day and half of it spent reading about my favorite team, here. ***Well that game confirmed it, this was not John Lindsey who once was the mayor of New York. ***Bowa is saying his head is hard enough he don’t need a helmet.***Noma & LaRoche each got a hit, Tie score and Andy walked AGAIN ***Ethier beat out Pierre 2-1.***Kemp looks like the Afro-American Babe Herman, but don’t give up on his baserunning. Speaking about baserunning I read that Hu was thrown out at second trying to steal with runners on first & second. Hu’s on first__stay there. That was a typo, right? ***Since the Dodgers & Angels paid no mind to Green he decided to quit. Good luck Shawn. ***It’s nice to here Will’s Pitt is being transfered to Glendale. I wish it was Glendale, Brooklyn. In saying “good bye” to Vero Beach & Dodgertown, I think they forgot “Dem Bums”. ***Furcal, to me is the best news.

Jon Weisman wrote this interesting, dead-on comment in his Dodger Thoughts blog:
*********************************

In my mind, Ned’s solution to the four-outfielder problem was hiring Joe Torre. We know Ned likes depth. It’s doubtful that in the event of injury, Ned wants Young or Repko or John-Ford Griffin playing regularly.

This shouldn’t be rocket science. It is natural for the player who gets No. 4 outfield status to brood. It’s also natural for the manager of the team to kick that brooder in the butt and tell him to think about the team and stay ready. If Torre can’t tell a fourth outfielder in April to stay positive, then what the heck is Torre here for?

I know some people will think I’m being naïve, but I think I’m the opposite. People who want to be stars are forced into backseat roles all the time. You don’t give up depth because depth is in a bad mood.

If the Dodgers can make a good trade, then good. But I firmly don’t believe that a trade of one of the four outfielders is necessary.

There’s only an outfield “problem” if the Dodgers choose to allow it. I don’t care if they need to talk to Ethier (or whomever) every day. Bring in a therapist if you need to. Manage the problem.

First, totally agree, Green is a class act, and I hate that people booed him since he left. Second, I agree, I can’t wait till Kent is gone. Hope I don’t offend anyone but its true. I don’t think our clubhouse problems are totally gone, although a new manager probably helps. Finally, another year of rotating four outfielders and giving the most PA’s to the worst of them does not help the team.

CZBLUE-EMMA::Did you change your name? +++I get MLB-TV and also can get Sports on Demand’s Extra inning on T.V. but as you might know they don’t show the PRE & POST GAME shows. That’s what I’d really like to see. Apparently Dodgers on Demand does not reach the East Coast. I remember inquiring about Dodger Vision years ago, but got the same result.

pierre,
No, I did not change my name :-) is just that I had forgotten the password on the other signon.

jspelk, I do like Kent. i like how he plays the game. To me eventhough he was a Giant, he became a Dodger to me when he cried at his first press conference at Dodger Stadium. I hope that this year he will continue hosting the Women baseball clinic at the stadium and that he invites some of the kids like Loney or Kemp to participate. I hope all three will have a great year. I hope the whole team will have a great year. -Emma

joey_rock: I don’t know why the front number is red, but I do know they were introduced by the 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers and that they were the first team to include the number on the front. Brooklyn took the NL pennant in ’52, so many it was initial considered good luck and kept (although the lost the WS to, who else, the Yankees, in seven games).

So you’ve had 56 seasons to get used to it, why do you think it ruins the jersey?

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